Son of Tengu
by Ris'on I'inekin Tyaedairgue
Summary: AU, OOC. Hijizura. Hijikata lives in a small village in the woods. Once he goes to hunt down some lunch and chases after the biggest deer he's ever seen, just to end up in an unfamiliar place, weak, spent. There he meets Gintoki - a weird, ghost-like guy, who can immediately tell what's wrong with Hiji and sends him back. Hiji, however, is unable to get home conscious.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, guys - I'm sorry. I know that there's still a lot of stories for me to finish... but I just come up with ideas and I don't want to forget them, so... I'll write this. But right now I'm kinda busy because of school, so I have no idea when will I continue with all of my stories.  
**

**And honestly, I don't want this to be rated MA again, but if you'll be persistent like last time... Oh well. Anyway, it's certainly M rated mainly because there might appear blood. (I don't even know if I'll write more chapters to this one. Might be just a one-shot. Might not. I'll decide according to the amount of follows and reviews I receive.)  
**

**AU. And I'm not really sure about the pairings yet. Sorry.  
**

* * *

**Son of Tengu**

The forest air was rather moist and heavy because it was raining at night, and the ground was all muddy. There were still puddles here and there, but the sun dried off most of them already. The birds were singing like happy unicorns on drugs, or so Hijikata thought while slowly following a path up the hill. The sounds were irritating, loud and uncongenial, it was not a music, it was a cacophony. And just to add to his bad mood, the path was slippery and his shoes and clothes were getting dirty. Not that he'd mind, but it's been two days since he ate or slept properly. He was already hungry and imagining mayo everywhere he looked. Damn, he missed his mayonnaise. And he craved a cigarette, too. But because he was in the woods, he couldn't have either one of his beloved things, and that was driving him mad. The reason why he was here was giving him the strength to go on, though. Looking at the muddy ground, he smiled. At least there's something the rain was good for. He could clearly see the footprints in the mud. The deer he was following was a nice piece of meat, and on top to that, he carried such a nice trophy on his head... Only Hijikata hasn't been able to kill that majestic animal so far. He managed to catch a glimpse of that deer king standing on the top of a hill or by the stream, but that damn thing always disappeared and Toshirou... couldn't bring himself to stop the chase. He wanted to get that bastard just because he was already this far. The deer has lured him deep into the heart of the forest. Hijikata wanted to kill that animal already and drag it to the village on his shoulders and finally wipe off that mocking smirk on Sougo's face... Gee, just thinking of that guy made him feel even more irked. He clenched his crossbow.

He looked up. The path was starting to disappear in the bushes and grass, and soon, it ended with a huge wild rose bush that made Hijikata unable to continue further. "Fuck," he mumbled and tried to search around for a way to get over this obstacle. When he found out that he'll have to climb up the wall of the cliff, he gritted his teeth. He was already getting weak, and because he haven't had any proper food for so long, he doubted he'll be able to go on in a few hours. He pushed himself way too far. Yesterday and even today morning, he tried to catch some fish in a river, but he didn't catch a scale... but there was no way in hell he was gonna lose to some stupid animal! And so, he chased the deer to this extent... and still was willing to sacrifice more. There might even be some girls in the village that'll like a man who's capable of bringing such a meal home...

... if he catches that bastard, that is. Clenching his teeth, he grabbed on the rough rock of the cliff and started to climb. It was hard and the rock was also slippery because of the water, mud and moss growing on it, but Hijikata was in no way a weakling, so after a while, he jumped down on the other side of that bush. He looked at his hands, forearms and knees and sighed bitterly; he got his skin scraped quite a bit. He should clean his wounds, infection could be such a bitch at times... but right now he had no time to be thinking about this. He got up... and swore in pure shock. "What in the actual fuck?"

The path from this point on was perfectly solid and clean. There were no bushes or grass on it (just _around_ it), and though it was only narrow one foot, it was obviously used frequently. And the worst and most surprising thing was, when Hijikata turned back, there was no bush at all. Like he just climbed over an empty space. When he reached out his hand though, he felt a faint twang to his fingers as he moved them through the space where the roses were supposed to be. "What's this... An ilusion or something?" he muttered and looked at the path before him again. Though he was quite confused, he grabbed his crossbow and decided to follow it further. He was cautious, as a hunter should be, but the sun was shining, it was warm, the footprints were clear and... and they suddenly disappeared, because the muddy ground ended and was replaced by a solid rock.

That was not the main issue, though.

Hijikata was standing in front of a house. It was a hut on the verge of falling apart, or so it seemed at the first sight, but it was obvious that someone does live at this place. There were herbs and flowers growing and on the ground there were seeds and fruit around, and none of these was rotten, though it was just like that on the rock. When Hijikata looked closely though, he discovered that there's a certain pattern to the foods. Shrugging his shoulders, he went further, walking carefully to not step on a single one of those things. "Moshi moshi, is somebody inside?" he called out, as he stopped at the door, but no response came, so hesitated for a small bit, but then he let himself in.

The inside was really, really weird. Not only it was actually pretty sturdy, it was also quite tidy. There were lots of herbs hung out to dry and probably to be used for medical purposes, but aside from that, there was just one bed, one chair and one table. No fireplace or anything like that, and Hijikata realised that he didn't see any shithouse outside, either. Here, in that one single room, there were no personal belongings or clothes, the only thing that immediately caught Hijikata's eyes was that mask on the table. It was terrifying. It was red and black and looked like it's about to devour somebody... and that nose, that huge, incredibly huge nose was sticking out from the middle and dominating the mask like a bad omen. "What's this thing for?" he wondered out loud and grabbed it. It was hard, but the surface was glassy and Hijikata didn't know the material it was made of. It was weird; the way the eyebrows were furrowed, the scowl on that mask and the fierce grimace of that mouth full of sharp teeth... was scary. Really scary.

"Don't touch it."

Hijikata jumped; there was nobody around, yet he thought he heard a voice. He looked at the ugly mask again and carefully put it back as he found it; suddenly, he got scared. "D-Did this mask just talk to me?" he whispered, his voice shaking.

"Of course not, that's ridiculous." The answer came... from above.

"Gyaaaaa!" Hijikata yelled when he (practically against his will) looked up. There was a ghost-like being, hanging upside down from the ceiling, its hair was white, skin pale and eyes red, its head only a few centimeters from Hijikata's. "S-S-Stay away, ghost!" he took a quick step back, nearly falling over the chair that was there. "That's rude. Who's a ghost?" the creature answered, its face indifferent. "I'm not a ghost, you know."

"B-But you're hanging here like a bat and your hair is white!"

The entity grinned. "I was sleeping up there on the joist, and you woke me up. My legs are hooked on it, that's why I'm upside down. Sorry if I scared you," they added and jumped down. Looking at the being now, Toshirou realized that this is undoubtedly a guy, probably of the same age as Hijikata himself. His facial features were sort of attractive, but the bored expression and dead-fish eyes were rather irritating. This person watched the world like he's not interested in it. "Y-You didn't scare me!" Hijikata retorted, but he couldn't help it, he stuttered. It was almost inaudible, but the stutter was there. The silvernette leaned closer and narrowed his eyes. "You haven't slept and eaten for two days. How do you intend to get back to the village in this condition?" he asked, as he reached out to Hijikata's eye and opened its eyelids with his finger - like a doctor examining his patient. For a moment, Hijikata was so confused that he didn't even swat the hand away, but then he came back to his senses and stepped back again. "That's none of your concern, is it?" he growled.

"That depends on my point of view," he answered and gave Hijikata a thoughtful look. "My name is Sakata Gintoki, and before you introduce yourself - I don't want to hear who you are. The only thing I can't tell by just looking at you is your name... but it's dangerous for you to tell me. So - as I said: don't wanna hear it." He looked away. "You should probably ead back... oh and I wanted to tell ya," he said as he quickly turned back and firmly grabbed Hijikata's jaw, staring straight into his metallic eyes, "leave that deer alone. It's not an animal, it's a spirit that protects this forest. If you kill him, you'll probably never catch a single paw again. The animals will die, the soil will rot and the plants will wither. You don't want that, do ya?" he said, and then he pushed Hijikata out of the door. "Go back and let somebody clean your wounds, or it'll get infected. And... don't ever come here again."

"N-Not like I want to," Hijikata retorted, flipped Gintoki off and started to run. He ran like a coward, but this place was weird and scary, Gintoki was also weird and scary and his hair was damn _white _though that guy was definitely not much older than Hijikata. And the way Gintoki looked at Hijikata gave Toshirou chills just by thinking of that. He ran past the place where the roses were supposed to grow, and when he realised that, he stopped and looked back. The bush was there, and when Hijikata tried to touch it to find out if it's an illusion or not, he stabbed a thorn on his finger. "Fuck," he mumbled. He didn't understand; the bush was not there just a millisecond ago! He expected it to be immaterial, just a play of light or something... but it was just as real as a wild rose bush can be. He couldn't even see through the branches to the other side.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to leave - when he stopped again. Just... damn! He's forgotten his crossbow at that guy's place... but even though it was sort of expensive, there was no way Hijikata would go there again. He didn't want to meet that ghost-like person again, no no no! He swore, and cursing everything, he decided to retreat quickly, and to get back to the village. He knew he's weak and won't last much longer, so he wanted to get as close to the village as possible before he collapses. Because he didn't need to stop and search for any animals' footprints anymore, he was faster on his way back. He didn't stop at all until his legs refused to obey his brain. When he collapsed on the ground, face-down in the dirt, he was just three or four hours far from the village. The last thing he heard was a voice that sounded kind of familiar, yelling his name. Then everything turned completely blank.

* * *

When he came to, he was on his own bed at home. It was dark and quiet, so he figured it's night. He wanted to get up to fetch some water, because he was really thirsty, but his body didn't feel like cooperating. He felt heavy, too heavy, as if an elephant was sitting on his chest. He checked it, but there was no such thing, of course. He noticed that he's dressed in his dark yukata and that his hands, forearms, knees and stomach are bandaged. True, he didn't pay much attention to his injuries on his way back, and he definitely suffered some more wounds when he was blindly, recklessly running through the dark forest at night. He tried to sit up; his limbs were so weak that he felt like it took him a whole millenium. When he finally got up and tried to take a step forward, it hurt; when he rubbed his forehead, he noticed that he's got probably a fever. He took another painful step to the door, and mumbled something rude. This wasn't like him at all. When he took one more step further, he gave up on walking normally to the door, and he leaned forward and opened the door using the whole weight of his body to lower the door handle. Then, however, he had no strength to get up, and fell down on the ground with a thud. The helplessness was so infuriating! When he tried to help himself with getting up by leaning on the wall, he heard footsteps nd noticed that it's the old witch-and-healer, Otose.

"Hey hey, you are in no shape to walk around!" she scolded him immediately. Under her sharp gaze, he somehow had to give up; he fell back on the ground and he felt his eyes closing, and he couldn't do a thing to prevent himself from fainting again. A moment before the heaviness overflowed him again, he heard Otose yelling: "Katsura! Get over here and help me to get Hijikata to his futon! And then, you have to go to the woods! I'm helpless here, I've tried everything I know, but it ain't helping. Maybe _they_ can heal Hijikata..."

_They? Who? _wondered Hijikata. Then, his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dunn... I'm afraid this will turn into something smutty again... maybe not in this chapter, but in the next or the one after... Sorry. :D**

**And apoligies for it'S this short. I'll try to do a better job next time. Blame it on Hijikata for he was careless and got sick.**

* * *

**Son of Tengu**

It was dark again when Hijikata woke up. He was warm and not uncomfortable, but he still felt much weaker than he'd want to. Because he didn't need to go pee or anything, he closed his eyes again. He didn't look when the door creaked quietly open, he didn't even move. He felt still tired and so he didn't react; his ears told him that two people entered the room. There was some rustling as they sat down next to him.

"Why do I have to be here with you?" According to the voice, that was Kasura. Hijikata didn't expect that guy to be here; after all, they didn't like each other. Katsura was so unreliable and always nagged about Hijikata's mayo and cigarettes... Suddenly he felt somebody softly touched his hair and Katsura muttered: "He's so weak... you sure you are helping him?"

And then, another voice answered and if Hijiakta weren't a pro in self-control, he'd jump out of his skin, because _this _was_ Sakata god-fucking-damn Gintoki_. "I _am _trying to help him. But I don't want to use my magic on him. It's tiring and he isn't worth it."

"_What do you mean he isn't -_" Katsura hissed and Gintoki had to put his palm over his mouth. "Would you shut up," he sighed. "After all, you still owe me a kiss, Zura."

For a second time Hijikata nearly got a heart attack. _A kiss? What the fuuuuuuuuu..!_

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. Why would I have to kiss you?"

"Because you told me your name back then. And because you keep telling me." Hijikata heard a sound of a body being tackled to he ground. "When I hear somebody's name," Gintoki continued, "I gain access to their energy. That means I can heal them with my magic, but I can also gain energy from them, and the latter is almost inevitable since I need something more than just food and water to live."

"G-Gintoki, let go -" Katsura whispered. "Hey, is there a difference when - mmf!" _Smooch. Smooch, smooch. _Hijikata's face turned red; he was thankful for that it was dark in the room and nobody could see it. _No way, they actually just kissed! They are still kissing! What in the fuck? _His eyebrows furrowed and his forehead was all wrinkly. _Would you guys fucking stop that?_

"Is.. there a difference... when somebody tells you their name on their own... and when you hear it from somebody else, as in... overhear in a conversation?" Katsura asked; it was clear that he was out of breath. "Well yeah," Gintoki said, "there is." _Smooch. _"When you told me your name yourself, you basically handed yourself over to me. If I heard somebody else's name from, for example, you, I wouldn't gain enough power to manipulate them."

"And could you heal them?"

"I see where are you going with that, Zura," Gintoki chuckled. "Yep, I could. But I'm not gonna do it for free or anything. Do ya want me to heal Oogushi?"

"You just made that name up, didn't you," Katsura muttered silently. "Will you heal him? Nnn... don't! Hands off! You promised!"

"Ah right, I did, didn't I." Gintoki sighed and sat up - or that was what Hijikata guessed when he heard another series of silent rustling. "I will heal him. If you tell me his name, that is. If you are willing to risk it, Zura, I'll really heal him, though it will take some time. Before you say anything - I was not going to let him die... but he'd never be as strong and healthy as before. However, if you..."

"I'll do whatever you want, just help him, okay?" Katsura said hastily. Hijikata was positive his heart didn't skip just one beat, but at least two. He had no damn idea why would Katsura say something like that. He's said this before: Katsura was irritating and Hijikata irritated him, too. If anything, there was mutual disgust with the other's behavior, so why would Katsura... What a stupid nickname, Zura. But Oogushi sounded even dumber! Was that a habit of Gintoki's to make up idiotic nicknames?

"Whatever I want, eh? Would you give up your chastity for his sake?" Gintoki sneered. Katsura mumbled something that Hijikata didn't hear. Though he couldn't help it and was curious about the answer, he quickly denied it, arguing with his own brain.

"Yeah, I know, I promised, and unless you change your mind, I won't do anything beyond kissing. You forgot to specify where should I kiss you, though." Gintoki slowly pushed Katsura down again. "Give me the power to heal him and tell me his name, and I'll help this good-for-nothing human regain his strength."

"Would you shut up," Katsura muttered. Again, there was some silent sound of clothes being moved, but this time... Hijikata clenched his teeth when he heard a silent moan. "S-Stop that, you're sucking so hard it hurts," Katsura whispered, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "Hah... Hijikata... His name is Hijikata Toshirou. Ow! Would you stop that already?"

"So what if you get a hickey? If you dress properly, nobody's gonna see your collarbone anyway, so..." Gintoki said. Unlike Katsura, he sounded rather refreshed. Suddenly, he paused and jumped to Hijikata and turned him on his back roughly. "Oi, idiot. You're awake, aren't you," he said silently.

"What?" Katsura jumped up on his feet and before Hijikata could react in any way, the long-haired man left the room with a slam of the door.

"Let me ask you something. You _knew _I was awake, right? Heartless bastard."

"I didn't know. If I knew, you bet I would've raped him or something," Gintoki growled. "I'm kidding, of course. I don't break my promises... Man, you piss me off, you know."

"It's you who pisses _me _off! Let go -" Out of nowhere, Gintoki kissed him. Because this caught Hijikata off-guard, he didn't even resist at first when Gin's tongue slid in. Fuck, this guy was an unexpectedly good kisser. Hijikata's brain immediately called it a night and the raven kissed Gintoki back, sliding his hand into that white, permy hair above him. Eventually, Gin pulled away and took a deep breath. That was all, but Hijikata felt even weaker than before and was totally out of oxygen.

"Sleep now, your body's gonna need that," he heard the perm-head whisper, "I'll ask Baa-chan to take care of you. You'll be sleeping a lot, so..." was all Hijikata heard before he fell asleep, being entangled in Gintoki's healing spell.


	3. Chapter 3

**So amused by the smooch sound? Well, I admit, I _was _trying to be funny.**

**By the way, it's gonna get interesting from now on. At least, that's what I think.**

**Also don't forget: HijiZura.**

* * *

**Son of Tengu**

The sun was shining brightly and Hijikata was sitting in the garden and listening to the birds' chirping. He was still feeling sort of weak, but he had to admit that Gintoki's effort was not for nothing – he believed that his illness won't have any bad effect on his body. Watching the cup of tea he had in his hands, he realized that the perm-head will be coming today to check his health. To be honest, he didn't want to see Gintoki any more, he even asked Otose if she could finish what Gin started, but she refused saying that because she had a different style of healing than Gin, she might even worsen his state instead of curing him. And he could hardly object to that, since he didn't know a thing about healing humans. He could try curing a horse or a dog, yes, but he was not the best one to do so. And humans were a huge no-no, since he knew only one herb.

But Gintoki was not the worst problem, no. The worst was undoubtedly Okita Sougo. Once was Hijikata able to walk, this idiot renewed his attempts to behead Toshirou, and he always appeared in the worst possible moment. When Hijikata was about to get in the bath, for example. Or when he was relaxing in the garden with a book, because he couldn't spar nor exercise yet. Or, rather than couldn't, he was not allowed to. Gintoki, however, promised to spar with Hijikata once he fully recovers, and Hijikata couldn't wait to beat the shit out of that idiot.

That guy was weird anyway. His hair white, his eyes red, and as far as Hijikata recalls, he can do magic. And he kissed Katsura and right after that, he did the same to Hijikata. That one kiss was still haunting Hiji in his sleep; he honestly fell asleep after he made sure that the perm-headed idiot is not anywhere around. And often, he woke up in the middle of the night with a weird feeling on his lips and cold sweat all over his body, though he never remembered any of his dreams.

Thinking about Katsura, Toshirou realized he hasn't seen him since then. It wasn't surprising, of course, Toshirou would be ashamed, too... but it was not like he'd tell anyone about the fact that Sakata and Katsura were kissing. And obviously not just once.

Though Hijikata was going to keep that a secret, it was bugging him a lot. It was definitely because of that _sound_. Fucking _smooch_. That was weird. Weird, weird, weird, damn weird! Sad as it might be, Hijikata's never kissed anyone before. He's not counting Gintoki, of course, because a) it was Gin who initiated the kiss, and b) that can hardly count anyway. Why?

It... it just mustn't be counted.

Because Hijikata simply didn't _feel_ anything.

It was only a touch of their lips, and although yes, sure, Gin was a good kisser... but it was not Hijikata's _heart_ that shivered. (Ahem.) Deep inside, he just didn't feel what he'd like to feel when kissing somebody. It was like there was a spark of passion or something, but that disappeared again as quickly as it appeared. There was no longing for the other, no yearning for more than _just_ the touch.

And that was not what Hijikata wanted.

Ruffling his hair, he suddenly remembered that Katsura touched his hair in sort of a strange way. _Why was he so worried? He had no reason to worry. We don't like each other the slightest bit. We don't even get along! So why? _Hijikata wondered, but he coudn't come up with anything that would satisfy him. And where could Katsura be, anyways?

Hijikata noticed that Otose was in the corner of the garden, so he got up - really, really slowly - and walked over to her. "Say, Otose-san. Have you seen Katsura around lately?"

She gave him a thoughtful look, then she answered: "Now that you mention it... I haven't seen him since a week ago, at least. Maybe even longer. We can ask Gintoki about him, though. He's coming today." Hijikata stirred in discomfort. "I know. But I don't like him."

Otose put the scissors she was holding down on the ground and slowly straightened up to face Hijikata eye to eye. Said raven took a tiny step back; she was really scary when she wanted to. "Listen, you..." she started.

"Yo, granny!" Otose looked up angrily to see where was that voice coming from. Sakata Gintoki was sitting on the roof above them with that usual annoying grin on his face.

"Who's your granny, you stupid perm-headed bum? You interrupted me! Get over here," she yelled, grabbed the scissors and threw them at Gintoki. Hijikata's blood froze; he's never seen Otose doing something like this before. She threw that sharp thing like a knife, like she was used to do something like that... But she didn't hit. Gintoki caught the scissors between his index and middle finger like it was nothing. Then he jumped down. For some reason, Hijikata felt like Gintoki's fall was a little slower than it should be.

Handing the gardening tool back to Otose, Gintoki looked at Hijikata. "Let's go to your room for the checkup," he said. Hijikata shrugged his shoulders and when Sakata turned to go inside, he simply followed the perm-head. As he was walking behind him, Hijikata coud easily watch Gintoki's movement. It was like... like Gintoki was in fact some wild animal disguised as a human. Though he was walking calmly, there was something unusual about the way he moved his muscles. He was less stiff than humans were, he was... more graceful when walking. Graceful, yet deadly somehow. But he was like this only when he was thinking about other things; usually, he tried to appear clumsy and rowdy, the complete opposite of what Hijikata could see now. "Say, Sakata, you seen Katsura these past few days?"

"Maybe yes, maybe not, why?"

"Just curious."

Gintoki opened the door of Hiji's room with a kick. Going inside like it belongs to him, he sat on the tatami, then he looked at Hijikata: "Close the door and come in."

"Are you _inviting _me into my own room?" Hijikata sneered, but he did as Gin instructed him to.

"Listen," Gintoki said. "Strip and get on your futon. You don't have to be fully naked, I don't need to see what's hiding in your underwear. Today, we're entering the final phase of your treatment. After that ends, you'll be healthy again," he kept on talking while watching with amusement the scowl that Hijikata had on his face while undressing. "However, because of the magic I'll use, you'll sleep a lot, almost nineteen hours a day. And there might appear weird dreams or even nightmares."

"What? Why?" Hijikata asked, carefully laying down on his futon.

"Because there will be different spiritual forces leaving your body. Some of them might possess such power. You know, you shouldn't have touched that mask back then." Gintoki's cold hands ran over Hijikata's back, and Toshirou felt some sort of a buzz. He shivered; Gin's hands were really cold and when the perm-head started removing the bandages, goosebumps appeared all over the patient's body.

"Your hands are ice cold," Hijikata murmured, stirring.

"Don't move," Gintoki's hand landed between Hiji's shoulder blades with a loud slap. "It's harder to heal you. Close your eyes, it's better when you don't even blink." Hijikata obediently closed his eyes. He felt Gin's fingertips touch him several times, but then even those light touches vanished. Gintoki began muttering, it were not words, it was not even any language, but Hijikata started to feel numb, tired, sleepy. He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids refused to rise... and then, he fell asleep.

Gintoki looked at the man in front of him, then he gently covered him with a blanket. "Sorry, Oogushi-kun," he said. "I promised. Plus, it seems like fun, so... _sweet dreams_." With a smirk, he got up and slowly left the room. He nearly ran into Otose. She gave him a curious look, asking him about Hijikata with that.

"He'll be fine, he just needs to sleep a lot. Eighteen or nineteen hours every day for a week at max. Make sure you change him the bedding when he gets too sweaty, give him food... you know, just the usual stuff that you usually do."

She nodded and leaned closer. "Since you're done here, leave already," she whispered. "You knew I don't want you to stay longer than necessary. People might start suspect something. I don't want to get chased away from the village because of hiding a creature like you. Sorry."

Shrugging his shoulders, Gintoki said: "They wouldn't dare to attack you." Then, made his way out. He didn't actually care; he liked it better at his home in the forest.

* * *

_"Hijikata-san..." His name whispered in a soft, seductive tone. The arm around his neck and the hot breath tickling him in his ear. "What kind of stuff are you into?" A palm slid down his side and stopped at his hip.  
_

_"Why would you ask that," Hijikata chuckled under his breath and caressed gently the long, black hair in front of him._

_"Because... because I love you," a timid whisper came as an answer._

_"Let me see your face and repeat it," Hijikata said silently._

_"I love you," Katsura whispered, his face deep red and his eyes looking anywhere but on Hijikata's face._

"Gyyaaah!" Hijiakta sat up, his whole body shivering. _What kinda dream was that? _he noticed that Otose left there water for him to drink, so he poured himself a glass and downed it. _Is this what Gintoki meant by nightmares? Damn, why am I still so slee... py... _Falling face-flat down on the futon, he was asleep before his body actually hit the ground.

Outside, on the roof just above Hijiakta's apartment, there was Gintoki, looking at stars. "Why do I have to play the stupido cupido for you?" he sighed.

Then, he vanished in the shadows of night.


End file.
